The Best Piece Of Advice I Was Given About Green Buildings
Deepa Parekh
Seasoned sustainability consultant for net zero buildings | Sustainability Education Expert
When I was in 4th year Architecture, Prof. Shishir R. Raval gave me an unforgettable piece of advice.
I was designing a housing project. Like most architecture students, I was obsessed with my design concept and was trying to resolve the design. I knew something was missing and hence I wanted an opinion from a faculty who was not teaching my batch.
So I reached out to Prof. Shishir Raval and took an appointment for a discussion.
I explained my work in detail. After listening patiently to the entire story, he asked me his first question:
Is there a need to build all this program?
That day, my outlook towards buildings and architecture changed forever.
I had never heard such a question. I never asked such a question.
I said - We are given this program.
He asked - I know. But, do you need to build all of it?
I didn't have an answer. But I kept thinking about it.
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The usual practice in all our design studios was to "give" the design brief with area statements to students. We simply designed a building to accommodate all of it. We never discussed why all those spaces are even there.
His question was about - What can be built vs What should be built
It was about differentiating the needs vs wants.
And this is the core concept of sustainability (a word I was not aware of at the time. But it piqued my interest)
The rest of my design discussion was brief and I don't remember much of it.
But his advice on questioning the brief got cemented in my mind.
This is the one of the most important questions we can ask client and investors. Maybe they didn't think about it as well. It is the beginning of an important conversation and can influence many important decisions.
Over the years, I have understood this question deeply. I now use this question as a starting point for all that I do as a parent, professional and a teacher.
Trained Linguist | Aspiring Content Writer | Student at BYU-Pathway Worldwide
2 年A wise and thought-provoking question Deepa, thank you for sharing this experience. Definitely widely applicable in all areas of life. We make things more complicated than they need to be and can create longer-term problems for ourselves. Question and simplify.
I ghostwrite Educational Email Courses for authors and journalists to turn more readers into customers | Ghostwriter & Copywriter | 7+ years working in tech implementation and IT consultancy
2 年I'd never thought about building programs in this way - what an excellent reframe. Thanks for sharing!
Crafting the built environment at the intersection of sustainability, technology, and human-centered design
2 年This examination of 'program' is also one of the more beautiful aspects of the work of Lacaton Vassal - the architects who were awarded the Pritzker in 2021. Thank you for sharing your story - Dr. Raval has a way of empowering with deep kindness, and a real knack of finding the teachable moment in his conversation with students.